


Acts Of War

by Harrishawksuperiour



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Character Death, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Execution, F/M, Family Betrayal - Freeform, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Female Protagonist, Forced Marriage, Forced Pregnancy, Grief/Mourning, Hatred, Implied Sexual Content, Imprisonment, Major Original Character(s), Mother-Son Relationship, Motherhood, Original Character-centric, Orphan - Freeform, Pain, Princess - Freeform, Queen - Freeform, Royalty, Wedding Night, prince - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5869771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harrishawksuperiour/pseuds/Harrishawksuperiour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following the destruction of the Star Killer Base, the remnants of the First Order must regroup. When a sympathizer from a neutral planet throws them a lifeline, it comes at a cost. Not for Kylo Ren and General Hux but the princess being sold off for her uncle's advantage. What will life hold for the First Order on the planet of Rosunda and how much will Princess Samani tolerate?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first Star Wars related fic I wrote. I've always loved the concept of Medieval monarchy but especially a bad ass queen who struggles against repression, whether it works or not. I know not everyone is into this kind of thing but if you are, I hope you enjoy it! It's a three part series so I'll post the rest intermittently.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Princess Samani regretfully informs her people of her forced engagement to Kylo Ren. Their reaction is how she expects. The princess makes a promise to her uncle and Ren gets off to a bad start with his fiance.

When she stood on that balcony, she was usually greeted with cheers and celebrations but not today. Instead she was faced with thousands of worried and frightened human and non-human faces. Samani ignored the eyes boring into her back from the room behind her and held her head up to defy the intimidation.

 

"My friends." She began solemnly, her voice carrying despite the frail little frame it came from. "Only a few weeks ago, we witnessed a great triumph for the Resistance..." The air shifted behind her and she stopped momentarily but she was determined to keep going. She'd been told what to say but she wouldn't say it, not as straightforward as they wanted at least; regardless of the consequences.

 

"Unfortunately, even with their dreadful weapon destroyed, the perpetrators of the attacks on the Republic have survived." Panicked murmurs erupted and Samani used it as a moment to choose her next words carefully for when they died away. "They are here. You have seen the Stormtroopers, you have seen the ships. They are among us. They are making demands of us. Of me." One child's face stood out to her. That picture of innocence would haunt her in the days, weeks, months, years to come. The ones that would suffer most at the hands of this terrible regime.

 

"Our home is next. My uncle..." Discomfort rippled from behind her. "Has volunteered us as a base for the loathsome First Order to regroup." The anguish and pain in the crowd slowly seemed to morph into outrage and fury as the news sank in. "He has torn up our neutrality! My uncle has not only offered up your home but also your princess..." Her people had found their voices. Hisses and roars of indignation and frenzy greeted her words. Normally, she took no pleasure in seeing her people angry or upset; quite the opposite. Her family had always taken pride in keeping their subjects happy and peaceful.

 

Their outcry now was proof of a loved monarchy.

 

"Yes, your princess!" She continued with a new passion in solidarity with those below, feeding off the energy. "I am, as of a few moments ago, betrothed!" Her hands gripped the stone balcony ledge until her knuckles were white and her demeanor subtly became more aggressive. "To one of the remnants of the First Order!" The wind seemed to pick up as Samani's speech grew more intense, whipping around her and catching her dress as she spoke but it didn't drown out the protest from below. Rather it carried into the hall behind her.

 

"Let me be absolutely clear, my friends! This means NOTHING! This betrothal is NOT a sign of cooperation with their goals! This is purely for your safety! For you and your children! So you can enjoy the same freedom that you always have! If it means that you can exist as you always have, I will do it for YOU!" There was more outcry. Mostly from the men while the women (most of whom had children) looked back at her for more reassurance. Samani knew in her own mind that she could not guarantee anyone's safety. That was her reason for this address. She needed to rile them up to protect themselves in case she couldn't. The First Order were weak now but they wouldn't stay that way. They would regain strength and when they did, they would overpower her.

 

"For the record, I was not a consenting party in any of these decisions! My hand and my home were given without my consent! But it is my duty and my priority to serve you and your best interests first!" It seemed she had stirred something within them. Even with her father barely cold in his tomb, her people would be her first priority as they had always been.

 

"If I believe there is an abuse of power, I will do all I can to reign it in! So my friends, the next time you see my uncle, be sure to express your displeasure. I love you all." Samani left it there and exited the balcony on a high to the raucous howls of support and defiance from below. With her people firmly behind her, she turned on her heel and stalked back inside where her uncle, her maskless fiance, his ginger General and a pair of Stormtroopers were waiting. Samani went to stride past the pair without a look at any of them but her uncle clearly didn't hadn't read her mood.

 

"Samani!" It stopped her in her tracks and despite the length of the train of her dress; she whipped around to glower at the eldest of the three males.

 

"Do you hear them?" She asked in a low and dangerous growl, advancing slowly and pointing to the still open balcony door where her people were still making themselves known. Duke Bantok, the princess' uncle and her father's younger brother had sent her to the balcony to make the address and announce the engagement, assuming her shy and timid self would come through as always. He hadn't expected her to publicly denounce him and his plan with venom.

 

"You did this to them. You did it to me. You brought them-" She cast a wicked look at the man clad in black slightly behind her uncle and his group. "Here. And we will NOT take it lying down." Samani stared him down, loving that she was making him crumble; it showed in his face. "When I am queen, by him-" another vicious look was cast at the other man who watched her with interest. "Or otherwise; all responsibilities will be lifted from your shoulders." She let it sink in and turned to resume her stride to her room. "Shortly followed by your head, uncle." And just before she disappeared: "Long Live The Resistance!"

 

Kylo Ren had lain in the snow for some time before the small medical team found him at General Hux's orders. In that time and during his transport to a hidden medical facility, he replayed the battle in the woods. The flash of the sabers, the whoosh as they swung and the sparks that erupted when they clashed seemed stuck on a loop even in his unconscious state. When he woke and began his arduous recovery, his injuries drove him for revenge.

 

The course of this revenge began to take shape when they received a transmission from one of the few supporters left on a planet by the name of Rosunda. Closer examinations of the planet made it seem almost too perfect. Close to a sun, plenty of natural resources, a recently deceased king. An ideal place to start rebuilding a new Empire. The only thing holding it all together was a much loved princess due to be made queen. Duke Bantok was a small, ratty man. He fidgeted often and shifted from foot to foot with anxiety but he had provided them with a lifeline.

 

One would barely suspect he was such a calculating and devious politician. Kylo Ren, General Hux and Duke Bantok gathered around projections of the planet while the Duke explained its strengths and weaknesses. The pros seemed to far outweigh the cons. Especially when the projection took the form of a petite young woman with gentle facial features and long dark hair, all wrapped up in a long, regal dress. She was beautiful.

 

"Control the last royal and you'll control the planet." The Duke had finished saying while Kylo Ren tore his eyes from the projection. "Her mother died when she was born, a devoted queen which is why Samani is so precious. Her father died only a few days ago." He didn't offer details there. "She's timid and gentle; you won't have problems with her."

 

"But she's just a princess." General Hux protested, immediately seeing a flaw in the Duke's proposal. "She needs to be a queen to make the changes we need for this to be successful! She needs a marriage of royal blood for that to happen!" The Duke didn't answer. Instead, he addressed Kylo Ren directly and bypassed Hux.

 

"If the rumours of your parentage are true, your mother was a princess. It's not ideal but it's enough." Ren looked to the projection again. This opportunity was golden. Not only would he have an outlet for revenge and the perfect planet to base it from; he'd have this magnificent creature at his side to achieve it.

 

"It's perfect. She's perfect." Ren spoke for the first time in the Duke's presence, dark eyes still locked on the projection of the princess. "I'll do it." There was a moment of silent agreement between the three men before Ren spoke again. "Will she protest?"

 

"I don't believe so." The Duke replied after some thought. "She's quite timid, you see. I haven't seen her since her father died. She's been locked away in her room; now is a good time to do this. While she's still weak."

 

 _Weak_. That was the word her uncle had used. Looking at her now, she was quite the opposite. She had burst into the room with a violent dominance that almost made Kylo Ren question if this was the same woman as in the projection. She ignored him as she strode past him and her uncle to make her address on the balcony. He could hear every word from her and every panicked murmur, outraged cry and roar of support at her passionate speech.

 

 _Control the last royal and you'll control the planet._ He saw it now. They hung on her every word. No matter what she asked them to do, they would do it. She had reduced her uncle to a bumbling mess with one look and the promise of an execution with it. This woman wasn't timid and she certainly wasn't weak. The two looks she shot at him while threatening the Duke were the closest he'd gotten to an interaction with the princess and they weren't even for him. They were to drive home a brutal point. When she disappeared, Ren stared after her.

 

"Weak and timid?"

 

"She... She's... Her father..." It wasn't an answer but Kylo Ren knew what he was trying to say. Her father's death had changed her. So had his. He hesitated for a moment then took off after her, despite the tangled protests from the Duke. His heavy, booted footsteps echoed along the stone corridors while he searched for that fiery pulse in the air. He hadn't seen much of the palace since he arrived but the more he saw, the more impressed he became. Everything was made primarily of stone but various artwork and tapestries were scattered at random intervals and carpets of unknown origins warmed the floors. Every few feet a large torch was bolted to the wall but with daylight still pouring in from the many windows, they were extinguished. With the day starting to fade, they would surely be lit soon.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Eventually, he felt her on the other side of a robust oak door. Her pulse had slowed now but she was still simmering. He debated whether or not he should go in there. If she attacked him, he'd retaliate without intending to and with more force. He was still unstable and he didn't want to hurt her. It wouldn't be a great start, after all. Kylo Ren came to a decision and decided to take a chance.

 

With a black gloved hand on the iron handle, he pushed down and in to a large, lavish bedroom. He found her in a second. On a wooden, throne like chair near the window with her elbow on the arm and her hand covering her face. She could have been asleep. There was silence for a moment before she broke it and not in the way he expected. There was a sigh, like a breeze of cool air on a hot day.

 

"What am I going to do?" It was quiet, solemn and desperate. Her hand fell from her face to reveal those gentle features that had hooked him. This was the woman from the projection. He saw her up close for the first time without rage dominating her expression. To describe her was to describe splendor. Though she didn't seem to indulge in expensive jewels or ornate jewelry, her dress was long and hugged her curvature in all the right places.

 

It was a deep purple, almost as if to subtly remind him that she **was** royalty and she would not yield that. She had the soft, pale facial distinguishes of a princess that he remembered from stories long ago; those lonely eyes were the same colour as the slate under their feet and her hair, dark as his robes, kinked and curled in various places. It would have looked chaotic on anyone else but she had it strangely ordered.

 

He remembered those stories. The beautiful princess forever captured by a witch or a monster or some sort of villain. But she was always rescued by a handsome prince. He doubted he was that prince. He was the monster that would keep her locked away. When she didn't receive an answer, she looked to the person who had opened and closed the door, expecting to see a servant or a maid: a friend.

 

Instead, she saw the man clad in black with that dreadful helmet until his arm; the one her uncle had called Kylo Ren. For a very brief moment, she remained unchanged. If anything, she looked up at him with even more desperation and helplessness. It didn't last. In the next moment, she had eased herself to her feet and stared him down with the same rage he'd seen her unleash on the Duke; the quiet kind, like a snake that could strike without warning. When she spoke, it was low and deadly like before, enough to make him feel like he was being pricked with white hot pins.

 

"How dare you encroach upon me like this." It was a nasty sort of coldness. Even though he was significantly taller than her, it in no way lessened her intimidation. The daring steps she took towards him too gave him cause for concern.

 

"You realize this is the first time you've spoken to me? Looked at me even?" He asked, holding his ground though he was mentally mapping the door behind him.

 

"I was hoping to abstain from that for a lot longer." Was her vicious response. When she stared him down, he could see the hatred. He decided to take a different route.

 

"You don't know enough about me to hate me, princess." He had underestimated the situation.

 

"Do not tell me what I do and do not know!" She snapped, suddenly.

 

"What do you know?" It was like poking a bear. Was he trying to prove he wasn't a bad person? One word was all she needed.

 

"Jakku." Before he could respond, she seemed to pace aimlessly around the room but she never left her eyes leave him. She was determined to unravel him as she had done her uncle. He was trapped. She had him exactly where she wanted him but she took no pleasure in it. "I listened to the SOS transmissions from Jakku. I wept at them." What was colder, her voice or her stare, he couldn't decide but she sounded like she was about to crack.

 

"We were about to send a fleet to aid them when the line went dead. So my question is: are you going to stand there and tell me you did not give that order?" His silence was guilty. "Men, women, children, elderly and disabled. You slaughtered them all because someone did not have what you wanted?" She gave him another opportunity to defend himself. Nothing. She knew more than he have her credit for.

 

"It must kill you to think that I can reach out and touch my birth right any time I choose while you must slave every day in a vain attempt to try and prove yours." She was whittling him, hitting him where she knew it would hurt.

 

"Darth Vader-"

 

"Was a murderer and a disgrace to the lightsaber." The princess cut him off vehemently, her hatred seeming to intensify. "As are you." He couldn't stop himself. Before he had time to calculate his actions, his hand shot towards her and gripped the air in front of him. A seemingly harmless action but the princess would have disagreed. Samani's hand lifted to her throat at the tightening sensation while the other gripped her vanity table. It was over as quickly as it begun and it ended with him scrambling towards her to help her.

 

"Get away from me…." She hissed weakly at him, eyes watering and pain strong in her voice. She shoved his hand hard off her arm and turned on him like a wounded animal. "GET OUT!"


	2. War in the Marriage Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding and Kylo Ren are closing in. Samani begins to lose her grip on her queendom and accepts a previously unthinkable proposal in an attempt to claw it back. Upsetting content.

The following few weeks were no better. The closer the wedding got the more unpredictable the princess became. Kylo Ren didn't sleep much so it wasn't uncommon for him to roam the hallways in the early hours of the morning. He wouldn't always be alone. He often walked past the princess' room to find light coming from under the door. He found her in the library sometimes at two, three and four in the morning. Other times, he'd see her in the gardens under the cover of darkness.

 

He never approached her. He wanted to keep his distance as much as possible after the choking incident. She seemed to be slowly forgiving him for it. Or as close to forgiving him as she was going to come. It wasn't anything she said or did; rather she ignored him instead of actively making things difficult for him. He couldn't put it off any longer. Two days before the wedding, he found himself at the princess' door and knocked. He'd walked into battles with no guarantee of survival without a shred of fear but she terrified him. No answer so he just let himself in.

 

Sitting sideways in her usual chair by the window with a book, Samani looked up and gave an aggravated roll of her eyes at the sight of her intended before going back to her book.

 

"I thought I had another two days before I had to look at you." It was casual but cutting. "What do you want?"

 

"You do." Ren assured her, brushing off the comment. "I just wanted to see you."

 

"See me?" Her book slammed shut and her sitting position changed to upright as she regarded him with scrutinizing curiosity. "Now why would you want to do that?" She was pushing his buttons again.

 

"I'm marrying you. Whether you like it or not-"

 

"Not." She cut across him but he kept going.

 

"We will share a bed, have children, all the things that come with it-"

 

"And what about me?" She sliced his thought again. "What do I get out of this?"

 

"You'll be queen."

 

"Oh joy of joys! To sign off on the things you want? To jeopardize my family name and reputation to pass laws that I do not believe in just to bring your brutish regime back from the brink? No queendom is worth that. I truly would prefer to be a widow rather than a bride!"

 

"To be a widow, you must first be a bride." Kylo Ren reminded her scathingly, reiterating that she had no choice in the matter.

 

"And if you think for one moment that I am letting you anywhere near me in _that_ respect, you are sorely mistaken."

 

"You want to leave your queendom without heirs?" Her eyes narrowed ferociously at him; he really did know what string to pull.

 

"If need be!"

 

"I'm sure you'll change your mind." Samani gave him an unnerving sort of smile as she leaned forward in her chair.

 

"There has not been an execution here for over a hundred years. The people have been rather placated with the way things have been run. But mark my words, Kylo Ren; my first order of business upon my coronation is to drag that vile excuse of a creature that calls himself my uncle and put his neck on the chopping block. And I will make sure you and everyone else sees it."

 

"You can't-"

 

"I can and I shall. Treason is a very high offence. That will be one of your main pawns gone. You think I do not know what he is doing?! He is lifting bans and quarantines that are there FOR A REASON! There are outlaws here now that were never here! Illegal markets are springing up! My people do not feel safe anymore! Do you see what you have done? You have destroyed this place just by being here!"

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Princess Samani grudgingly let Kylo Ren place his hand on hers. She had stunned him with her behaviour and her looks but he assumed this day (and night) was going to be one of trial for her so she was trying to remain calm. The contrast of his black robes and her white gown was magnificent but she couldn't have been less interested. She just wanted to get it over with. Not only was he touching her but she had to stand beside her uncle while he officiated it.

 

She couldn't have felt more unwell if she tried. The key to getting through this dire situation was shutting off. Just moving where he guided her, switching back on to say the words that made her gag and shutting off again. The balcony was no easier but at least she knew she wasn't alone. What should have been a joyous occasion was met with silence and despondence.

 

"It's a wedding, not a funeral." He murmured to himself and certainly not expecting her to respond.

 

"It is a funeral. Look at them. They are in mourning." She informed him bleakly and with borderline savagery.

 

"I had no idea you were so poetic."

 

"I do not need to be poetic to see the hope die in their eyes." He looked out again. He saw a span of different emotions in those below them; varying from anger to disappointment, from sympathy to hate and from melancholy to spite. It was clear he wasn't welcome here. Samani disappeared for a while after that. She had walked the cellars where she played as a child or hid from a bath or a scolding. It wasn't a hiding place anymore. It was smaller than she remembered, more confined. She'd be found eventually.

 

The white hem of her wedding gown dragged through the dust and dirt one would expect to find on the floor of a cellar though she paid little attention to it. She was trying to kill time. She didn't want to go back upstairs; he was waiting for her, he was the last person she wanted to have her maidenhood but it had been made clear that morning that she had no choice. The princess felt like a child once more, trying to escape a punishment, this time it was one she hadn't warranted but she had to face it nonetheless.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

One week after her coronation and two weeks after the wedding on a cold, icy morning; Kylo Ren was disturbed by shouting from outside. It wasn't one person or two but several. Hundreds even. Hundreds of hateful people expressing outrage. It was only when he went to the balcony that he was just in time to see the terrified Duke being dragged onto a wooden platform with the new queen only a few paces behind. Forced to kneel in front of a block of wood, the Duke looked from the crowd to his niece to the man in the executioner's hood.

 

"Duke Bantok." Her voice was loud and as cold as the day itself. "You are charged with treason of the highest order against your home and your family. You tore up a neutrality agreement that was centuries old to facilitate your own dealings with the First Order. How do you plead?"

 

"Innocent!" Was his obvious, petrified cry. "They contacted me! They reached out to me!"

 

"You still allowed them here." It was as if she was bored with the proceedings already. "If your loyalty was to your planet, especially at such a critical time, you would have informed me. At your discretion, executioner."

 

"No! Wait! Samani!" As the axe swung back, the queen lifted her gaze to balcony and sure enough; there he was. Her eyes stayed on his even as the axe came down and separated her uncle's head from his shoulders with a terrible thud. The howls of approval from the crowd washed over her like the blood washed over her shoes and still she maintained that stare.

 

She had given them their traitor. They had bade for blood and she had delivered with brute force. With any luck, she would be able to continue this until the First Order were no longer casting a shadow on the planet. But if they overpowered her…. She would be in severe trouble. That was a problem for another day. For now, she would enjoy her victory and think of places to dump the Duke's body.

 

With a swing of her cloak, she turned on her heel and strode back inside. Kylo Ren stared down almost numbly as the blood painted the platform and seeped down in between the boards. He watched as people dipped rags in it and celebrated like they had claimed a glorious prize. Had she really just done that? Had she risen up in defiance and swung out at the First Order? She had.

 

"What do we do now?" Hux asked from over his shoulder, having witnessed the act as well. This was a blow, everyone knew it. Most importantly, she knew it. She had locked eyes with him and held him there without so much as flinching when the axe came down on the Duke's spinal cord. Even the blood spatter on her dress and shoes, being only a foot away from the body, she was determined to deliver a message.

 

"There's nothing we can do. It's done."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

It seemed the execution did quell fears and showed the new queen wouldn't suffer traitors. It had been a strong, bold move for one of her first: hacking off her uncle's head but it paid off. Nearly a year later, unrest started to rear its head again as the First Order started to become stronger. As aggressive as her opposition was, he could always count that her people came first.

 

When unrest fell again, she had struggled. They were overpowering her as she had feared and it was visible. This time, Kylo Ren came to her with a solution. It wasn't well received to begin with but once it was explained to her from a safe distance, the queen eventually agreed though with extreme hesitant. Her skin crawled at the very thought of it. Her mind was thrown back to her wedding night and how she had tried to hide from it. Even worse when it actually began.

 

Every second or third night for a month, he'd come to her and they would try. It wasn't necessarily a pleasant experience for either of them: she hated him and he knew it. He'd always leave when they were finished and it was the best mercy he could ever have given her. Then again, if he stayed, she would have convinced herself at some point to hold the pillow over his face. At last, when her stomach started to swell and she'd guard it day and night, he knew they'd succeeded. She slept more now so he spent his waking hours sitting in her chair and watch her cradling her growing belly in her sleep, he'd leave before she woke.

 

From feeling the mood of the people on the daily basis, he was trying to decipher if the promise of an heir would settle the subjects some more. However, she was more hostile now and her people seemed to sway with her; it was like walking on eggshells even more. It'll be worth it, he told himself. If she's happy, they're happy. But she wasn't happy. It was like they could smell it.

 

During her pregnancy, the queen was usually in one of two extremes. She either slept for nearly days at a time or roamed the palace and gardens restlessly through the days and nights. When Kylo Ren went to check on her, often he wouldn't find her. Even heavily pregnant, it wasn't uncommon for her to be in the garden reading or watching the birds. Until it started raining. Then she couldn't get back inside fast enough; for the baby's sake. Striding back inside having narrowly avoided a downpour, she drew down her hood and headed for the library. On her way, she came across the red headed General that has arrived with Kylo Ren.

 

"Your Majesty." He murmured with respect loud enough for her to hear as she passed and bowed to go with it then continued on his way. Samani stopped while a small, curious frown creased her brow.

 

"General?" The younger female had turned and when called, he span and closed the distance between him Samani. He too was curious.

 

"Something I can do for you, Your Majesty?" She knew who he was. What hand he had in this take over.

 

"Not especially, no." She replied somewhat sweetly, it was interesting to see him up close. He didn't seem like a strong leader. He wasn't mysterious like Kylo Ren. Probably well trained and disciplined but weedy and easily bent. She had just proved it. _Keep your friends close and your enemies closer_. Why did it take so long for her to actually speak to him?

 

"How do you like it here, General?" He seemed confused but he answered all the same.

 

"It is most pleasant, Your Majesty?" The queen nodded and was about to ask something else when the General looked past her and she knew. Samani sighed and rolled her silvery grey eyes. He was behind her. So she simply left the situation. Kylo Ren approached the General but didn't speak until the queen was gone.

 

"What did she say to you?" The masked male questioned the other one with a dangerous, jealous edge.

 

"What? She asked me how I liked it here..."

 

"You stay away from her." Ren turned on his heel but the warning was clear in his distorted tone.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"Sir, it's a boy." When Sam was born, Kylo Ren had hesitated at the door before deciding against going in. She was tired, she was sore and learning how to cope with a new-born baby, she'd eat him alive if he said the wrong thing. It certainly didn't help that he'd had her confined to her room for 'bed rest' under lock and key since the incident with General Hux.

 

When he did finally visit in the early hours of the morning, he found the cradle empty and his son in the bed, cuddled up tight into his mother's chest. He was tiny. The closer he looked, the more he saw the fragility of this little thing he had created and his wife had fought painstakingly to deliver. So taken up with the small, sleeping child, Ren hadn't noticed the queen's eyes flicker open.

 

"Is it only now you are coming to see him? The son you wanted so badly?" She asked her voice thick with sleep as she checked on the infant.

 

"I wanted to give you some space." He explained quietly, looking to the female who had just sat up then to the child in her arms who gave a little whinge of protest at being moved.

 

"I am grateful." She answered grudgingly. "It was trying but he is here now. Healthy. It is all I wanted."

 

"I'm glad." Kylo Ren acknowledged carefully; this was quite possibly the most civil exchange they had ever had.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Sam grew in restricted quarters, living with his mother in her room but he was adored by the queen nonetheless. His father visited sometimes but he had little interaction with him. It was as if he didn't know what to say to or do with a child.

 

"Mummy, it's snowing!" Sam gasped from his mother's arms, pointing to the window at the first snow of the year.

 

"So it is." She agreed with a kiss to his cheek.

 

"Can we go out?" Samani's maternal smile faltered.

 

"We will have to wait for your father, darling." Sam's excitement died down. His father. The tall man with the dark hair and eyes and frightening scar that barely noticed him, the man that always left his mother upset and flustered. The little prince didn't understand the arrangement. He knew his mother hated his father (he was more intuitive than they realized) and he knew his father did hold something for his mother but couldn't express it.

 

He'd see it in the way he looked at her and did his best to appease her without bending too much to her. Almost as if he'd been summoned, there was a clattering of Stormtrooper armour from outside followed by the scraping turn of a key. Samani knew what to do. She set her son down on her chair beside the window and stood in front of him, blocking him from view. Sam had never really said anything about his feelings for the father but she knew well enough from watching him that he wasn't exactly comfortable in his presence. Kylo Ren appeared but the Stormtroopers stayed respectfully in the corridor.

 

"Majesty." He knew better than to call her by her name. He leaned sideways to see another pair of dark eyes meet with his but Sam quickly looked away again and up to his mother.

 

"We were hoping to go for a walk." Samani informed him tightly, gauled that she, the true ruler of the realm, had to ask permission to go for a walk with her son. "To see the first snow." Ren considered it.

 

"Excellent idea. I'll accompany you." She had been hoping he would leave them to it but it seemed not to be the case. "I'll leave you to change. It's very cold."

 

Sam ran up ahead, gathering whatever flowers poked through the thin layer of snow, any sticks or stones too, pleased with the freedom to run and stretch his legs.

 

"He's strong." She ignored the male walking beside her, the hood of her cloak acting as a barrier from having to look at him. "He needs to be trained. Keep walking." He sensed she was about to stop. She grudgingly obeyed. "He needs a master. He could become a Knight, but he needs to start soon."

 

"He is five years old, are you out of your mind?" Samani hissed in reply, eyes ahead on her child.

 

"He needs to start soon."

 

"No." It was more concrete this time and she did stop, placing herself in front of him to block his path with an icy stare. "My son is a prince and he will stay one. You have done enough damage to this planet and this monarchy without taking its heir!" He knew he would meet resistance from her with this. He'd have been surprised if he didn't. "My son stays with me. I refuse to have him sent to some archaic order where he knows nor trusts anyone!"

 

"And more to the point, I refuse to allow him to become a cold blooded beast like his father! Sam! Back inside!" Sam abandoned what he was doing and immediately hurried after his mother's dominant stride, hurrying a little more when it came to passing his father. She stopped after a few feet to let him catch up and took his hand when he did.

 

"Darling, you must do all you can never to be alone with your father. Do you understand?"

"Yes mummy."

 

Samani knew she'd have to be a fool to think it would end there. Having Sam wasn't about bringing stability to the planet or even to her. It was about Kylo Ren and continuing a dark legacy, that much was clear now. The next day, the key scraping in the door interrupted them again. Sam sat on the floor with crayons and an empty journal while his mother watched, making suggestions for colours and what he should draw next. This visit wasn't as civil as the one the day previous.

 

"Sam." Kylo Ren breezed as he entered the room and this time the Stormtroopers followed. "Come with me." The command hung in the air for a second and what his mother had said the day before echoed in his young mind. Sam tensed and ran for his mother but it seemed his father wasn't above tearing a screaming child away from the only parent he really knew.

 

"What are you doing?" She asked him numbly as the room seemed to cave in around her with her son howling and desperately trying to pull himself away and back to the queen.

 

"MUMMMMYYY!"

 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!" Samani dived to try and grab back her child who was already being hauled out of the room but felt herself being restrained by Stormtroopers. Sam's terrified sobs could be heard all the way down the hall while Samani still tried in vain to fight off the Stormtroopers. She was left alone but it didn't stop her attacking the door. Clawing at it until her fingers bled, the queen roared as a woman of her standing should not have done. He had taken her child. He had staunchly ignored what she had said the day before and if she knew anything about the process; it would be a long time until she saw her child again. That realization reduced her to a weeping mess on the floor.


	3. One Final Act Of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam is gone and his mother isn't coping. She's making things as difficult as she can for Kylo Ren but the despair doesn't end there. Even more upsetting content. Final chapter. See notes at the end.

Queen Samani sobbed for days, waiting for her son to be returned to her. Naturally, her hatred for her husband grew unchecked to levels unreached before. He could feel it radiating from under her locked door when he passed. Her room had become a prison. When Sam was there, it was a safe dwelling for her and her child away from his father and his soldiers.

 

Now, it was a cage. When Kylo Ren finally picked up his nerve to visit her nearly a week after Sam was taken, he expected a broken woman. She was but his appearance stirred a hurricane. When she saw him, the nearest thing to her (a glass vase) was picked up and hauled at him with all her might. More objects followed. Books, ornaments, anything with weight.

 

This was usually accompanied by incoherent, enraged screaming. She was more like her husband than she realized. He didn't try visiting her again for a few days after that. When he did, he sent General Hux in first to calm her and remove any objects that could do him damage. That visit consisted mostly of threats and insults, more so than usual.

 

"You should have waited." Hux remarked as he locked the door behind them when they were safely back in the corridor. "She's heartbroken."

 

"He needed to go." Ren responded coldly. "He was wasted here. I'll give her a few months to calm down and we'll try again." Hux stared at his colleague.

 

 _"Try again?"_ He repeated incredulously. "You surely don't mean having more children?! She won't let you touch her after what you've done! She'll smother you with a pillow before she'll let you near her again!" Hux wasn't wrong.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months. His visits were short and sparse; just the way she liked them if they had to happen at all. With every passing day, Samani grew more and more desperate. There was no sign of Sam being returned and his father didn't mention him when he visited. Nor did he answer any of her questions about where her son was or if he was alright. The turning of a key in the old lock then a light knock at the door ripped her away from her doleful thoughts at the window. She fixed her posture and made sure she was ready for him. But it was the General. She should have known. Ren never knocked.

 

"He wants to see you." The red headed man told her with a note of sympathy. "He's busy so it'll be brief. It'll be nice to get out of the room anyway." As she walked with the General, it occurred to her that he might know something about Sam.

 

"I'm afraid I don't know where he is." Hux answered with a shake of his head as he led her down the staircase she used to play on as a child. "I barely know the child's name. He never talks about him. No one knows his whereabouts except him. He wanted it air tight and he succeeded. I'm sorry, Your Majesty." She barely recognized the palace with all the Stormtroopers, computers and various pieces of equipment that she didn't want to know about. When Kylo Ren came into view, he was overseeing plans for some new weapon. It looked horrific. Hux cleared his throat.

 

When her husband turned, he regarded her for a second (even cooped up in the room, she always kept herself beautiful; (not for him but for her own sanity) then took off his newly commissioned helmet. He knew she hated it; he didn't need to give her another reason to hate him even more. Though it was a bit late for that. They were married seven years and she'd despised him from the second she saw him.

 

"What?" She was to the point. An outing from her room was all well and good but it meant she had to be in his presence.

 

"Is that any way to greet your husband?" He asked, hoping to have gotten a bit more respect while surrounded by his troops.

 

"Well, you do not like it when I throw things at you." She countered truthfully with an arched eyebrow and her arms folded over her chest. The darker of the two males said nothing but the other had to bite his lip. "I will ask again. What do you want?" Kylo Ren cast a glance at Hux then leaned in towards his wife and lowered his voice.

 

"I'll come and see you tonight. It'll be late. Make sure you're awake." He straightened up and was business like again. "We need to try again." She stared at him. Was he serious? The rage started to bubble and she acted out of impulse. She shouldn't have but she did. Out of nowhere, a pale hand collided and connected with the scarred side of his face with a loud CRACK. Before he had time to respond, she was in his face.

 

"Let me explain something to you." Samani seethed, her teeth bared like some sort of exquisite predator. "You do not summon me like a dog at your beck and call. You forget who and what I am. I am queen of this whole damn planet! I am not your wife by choice so I am not going to act like it!"

 

"You want to discuss those matters? You come to me, not the other way around!" Turning on her heel, Samani stormed from the room, leaving awkward looks in her wake. **_"GENERAL!_ "** She roared without looking back. It seemed impossible for such a bellow to come from such a petite frame. The redhead looked between the queen's quickly disappearing back and Kylo Ren's red, hand printed face. His mind was quickly made up and he scarpered after Samani.

 

Kylo Ren smashed up his quarters after that. The embarrassment he'd suffered in front of his staff was too much. She was out of control. Hux was right. If he fell asleep in her bed, she'd surely kill him. She was punishing him for taking Sam and it was impossible to tell what she would do next. What else could he do to reign her in? She was already kept in her room and that arrangement had sprung from his own jealousy.

 

She needed to be kept alive. If the monarchy died away, there would probably be severe civil disobedience problems that the Stormtroopers would struggle to contain. Anarchy would rise until the First Order was ejected and the planet was taken back. She was too precious. Not only her but any heir she produced was invaluable - Force sensitive like Sam or not. Kylo Ren's train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. On the other side stood a somewhat forlorn looking General Hux.

 

"The Supreme Leader wants to see you. It's important."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kylo Ren left the meeting with Snoke and was obviously shaken. He had numbly nodded his way through it and returned to his still decimated quarters. They would be arriving soon, he'd have to tell her. The lock to Samani's bedroom clicked but she didn't hear it. Immersed in a book, she didn't feel his presence until he ever so gently touched her arm.

 

Lifting herself from the world of the story, the female breathed a small sigh and heightened her gaze before closing her book to find him sitting on her bed. There was something uncharacteristic about his expression. Something soft? Something uncertain? Surely it wasn't despair? She didn't feel guilty about earlier, she felt empowered by it if anything.

 

"I was not waiting for you." She insisted haughtily, assuming that was the reason for this visit.

 

"I know." Samani threw him a strange, suspicious look.

 

"What the hell is going on?"

 

"You need to come with me." He told her quietly, getting up to take her cloak off the chair at her vanity table. He draped it carefully over her shoulders which caught her even more off guard. "You'll need this. It's cold."

 

Samani followed Kylo Ren out to a landing strip near the gardens. They stood there in silence for a moment until the drone of engines seeped into the night from somewhere overhead. She knew that ship. It was Kylo Ren's own destroyer. The vessel touched down and almost immediately, the ramp dropped.

 

Two figures in dark uniforms trudged down but they carried something between them - a stretcher. The body on the stretcher was perfectly still. In fact, it seemed oddly stiff. As they neared, Samani's blood turned to ice and Ren couldn't bear to watch as the realization slowly dawned on her.

 

"Sam..." It was said without emotion, as if it hadn't quite hit her yet. It didn't take long before the blood curdling shriek ruptured the peace in the gardens and caused several night birds to take off in terror. _**"SAAAAAM!"**_

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kylo Ren gave instructions for the family tomb to be opened. He also specified that the boy was to remain with his mother until his funeral. He did all this to keep his mind from reaching into dark places. It was one of the things that convinced him that he didn't truly belong to the Dark Side. If he did, Samani's life would be very different. Killing his father had been one thing but being responsible for his own son's death was another.

 

This guilt would eat at him. Not just sending him away but never taking an interest in him. Ignoring him. He seemed like a sweet child, after all. He began to wonder about his family. What would his father have said about a grandchild? Most likely he'd have clapped his own son on the back and wished him luck but brought Sam presents from wherever he went and carried him to bed when he fell asleep.

 

Chewie would have piggybacked him around the Falcon and kept him warm on icy planets. No doubt Leia would have fawned over him, spoiled him with hugs and kisses and balanced him on her hip as she gave orders. She'd probably be inconsolable like Samani was now. He had caught his wife as she collapsed on the landing strip and held her, expecting to be fought with various loathsome things said to him. But none of that happened.

 

If anything, she clung to him. She sobbed into his chest. She allowed him to help her back inside to her room where Sam's body was already on the bed. He remembered the last time he'd seen his only child. This small, desperate little boy had pleaded with him to let him go to back to his mother. He'd called him Daddy. Not Father or by his name. Daddy. Ren had looked at him (probably the first time he had really looked at him) and saw the big, brimming brown eyes and trembling lip. But he couldn't stop. This had to be done.

 

With the arrangements made, he returned to the room where the queen lay beside her son. With one hand rested on his chest and the other stroking his dark waves, it seemed she had cried herself out and wallowed in mournful silence instead.

 

"Everything's done." She didn't answer. "We'll take him in the morning." It was like he was tearing him from her all over again. Samani heaved a physically painful breath and forced herself to answer but never looked at him.

 

"Yes."

 

"You will be brought back up here."

 

"Yes."

 

"And when the time is right, we'll try again." Another sorrowful pause.

 

"Fine." Kylo Ren looked to the Stormtroopers behind him and with a wordless nod, he told them to wait outside. When they were alone, he sat on a chair beside the bed.

 

"Speak to me, Samani." The first time he'd used her name in all the time they'd been married, the abstinence had been mostly out of fear of her reaction. That didn't seem to matter anymore.

 

"And what would you like me say?" It was bleak and defeated. "That everything is fine? That this is just a set back? That we will try again?" Her gaze broke from her son's grey face and looked to his father instead. "I will not do it. Because it would be a lie." The queen went quiet again as her eyes returned to her son's face. It was like she was desperately looking for any sign that her son might be alive; merely stunned or passed out but she always got the same result.

 

It was rare for him to see her without anger or disdain on her face. He thought back to the projection all those years ago, the one that had enticed him to the planet. She had been gentle, docile and timid. It had been her nature. She changed into something stronger, something crueller and more aggressive out of necessity. Now, she was broken. Samani eased herself off the bed and went to the window, the place she had stood for months and waited for her son to come back. Ren was about to get up to leave but -

 

"This is your fault." He barely heard her but stopped when he did to face her back. Samani turned and Kylo Ren could see despair etched into every beautiful feature.

 

"He was my son too." Something akin to a scoff erupted from the queen.

 

"You fathered him. That was it. You do not know what it is to have a child. To love one. To be willing to lay down your life to protect it. Tell me, did you ever look at him? Speak to him? Realize how much like you he actually was?" Ren was quiet. His guilt was starting to rise like bile again. He didn't want to remember the last time he saw his son alive.

 

"No, because he was petrified of you." Her attack stopped there and a sullen stillness took over. It hung there for several moments before the melancholy of her tone resurfaced. "There are no Stormtroopers to be present tomorrow."

 

"Majesty-"

 

"There. Are. No. Stormtroopers. To be present. Tomorrow." He conceded and she returned to the window with despondency.

 

"If that's what you wish."

 

"I wish for plenty. Little of it you could or would deliver." He hesitated then took a few careful steps towards his wife.

 

"What else do you wish for?" He inquired softly in her ear from over her shoulder. He decided against touching her, she was delicate enough without that added complication. Samani inclined her head slightly and adjusted her body so that she was facing him. His height had never intimidated her despite being caught between him and the stone windowsill; it wasn't going to start now. Her eyes searched his face, waiting for some sadistic streak but saw nothing.

 

"You have taken _everything_ from me." The queen began with dejection and grief but her voice seemed to waver with every word. "My home. My planet. My queendom. My freedom and now my son. I have _nothing_ left. Every day when Sam was gone, the room felt a little bit smaller and every time I looked in the mirror, I did not recognize the woman looking back at me..."

 

Samani brushed a pale hand through her dark locks almost as a means of distracting herself from getting too emotional but she continued regardless. She couldn't believe she was about to voice this to him nor that he took her chin in his hand and lifted it to make her look at him, quite gently too. It became too much. Her voice cracked with anguish and her eyes started to pour.

 

"If you ever felt anything for me, you will let me die. You will let me rest with my parents and my son and you will bring an end to this nightmare..." Kylo Ren tenderly brushed his thumb against the queen's jaw, the tears just staying on the leather of his glove.

 

"You know I can't do that."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

As she requested, there was not a single Stormtrooper present that day. He had even suspended the non-armoured staff. It was him, his wife, General Hux and the handful of servants left over from before their arrival. The ones who had actually tended to the prince and the queen; the closest any of them had to family anymore. Samani walked beside her son, her hand as close to his body as she could without obstructing the pace of the meagre procession. People lined the streets in mournful silence to bid farewell to the prince.

 

As soon as he and his mother passed them, their hateful attention turned to his father. Though no one said or did anything, it reinforced his belief that the queen was precious. He was sure he would have been set upon if she wasn't present. She felt like she was in limbo.

 

It was probably the only reason her eyes stayed dry. For now. The tomb was cold but his casket waited, warm and cosy just for him. It had been seven years since she was last here, seven years since this all started when she said goodbye to her father. He was laid in and those who shouldered him stepped outside with everyone else. It was just her, her husband and the little boy that would never laugh or smile again.

 

"I'll give you some time..."

 

"No." It was firm but fractured. He stayed and watched her unravel again with distraught sniffles, guilt clawing at him again. Whatever she felt about him, he could barely stand there and listen to her. "I love you." The queen told her only child in a heartbroken whisper, leaning down as close into the still open casket as she could. "I love you so much and I did my best; I tried." Delicate, glassy tears started to fall and she did nothing to stop them.

 

"I wanted to give you everything, everything a prince deserved to have but it was not to be, my love. And I am so, so sorry." A kiss with shaking lips was pressed to his forehead before she rose, as elegant as a queen should. "Goodbye, my darling." She murmured something, something Ren didn't understand. A phrase in another language then swept from the tomb.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

He went to see her everyday but it was as if she was out of focus with reality. She never spoke nor did she look at him. If he placed himself in front of her, she seemed to look through him rather than at him.

 

She was refusing food; not actively, she just didn't seem to notice the tray. This went on for days after the funeral. He requested her to eat but ended up getting frustrated and threatened her with force feeding instead. She didn't seem to hear him.

 

"Meeting in one hour, General." He told Hux stonily when he passed him in the hallway.

 

"And check on my wife before you come down. She might be a bit more responsive to you." The hour came and went and Kylo Ren sat waiting with several other members of the First Order. Eventually, the redheaded General made his uncertain appearance, looking visibly rattled.

 

"There better be a good excuse for your tardiness, General." Ren spoke from behind his mask. Hux closed the door and stood facing it for a moment until the man at the head of the table called him out again but on his feet this time. " **Answer me!** " The General hesitated then swallowed and looked to his colleague, downcast.

 

"The queen is dead."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaand that's it! Poor Sam. Poor Samani. Just to clarify, Sam died during his training. Snoke said that he was strong like his father but unwilling to train. The heartbreak for his mother was too much. The Resistance does have an eye on the situation from the beginning; from the death of Samani's father. But because of the neutrality clause, they cannot act. The neutrality is torn up upon Samani's engagement to Kylo Ren, rendering the planet as a new base for the First Order with seemingly royal allegiance to it. It becomes a situation between two groups where the Resistance cannot intervene. It would also be too big for the Resistance to take on, especially with so many civilians. Samani too died of heartbreak only moments before Hux finds her (he stayed with her for a while to make sure) but she knew her death would drive her people up, hopefully enough to drive out the First Order with the help of the Resistance. With no official royalty left, the ever diplomatic General Leia Organa orders a storm on the palace with the help of Resistance allied spies in the staff. General Hux and Kylo Ren are apprehended. Leia keeps herself together until she challenges Ren on the death of her grandson, the child he had seen as no more than a pawn. He takes her to his tomb though she finds it difficult to go inside and look at the glass-top coffin where the little boy lay with his mother. The end of great line.


End file.
